Loudoun County, VA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

3 states flatly: 'Invasive Plant Prohibition. ' The ban sits inside the same Plant Unit Composition Requirements that set the 80% native-species floor for Buffers and Road Corridor Buffers, so any landscape plan submitted with a Site Plan or set of construction plans must exclude invasive species from the counted plant material entirely, there is no percentage tolerance as there is for other plant categories. The Zoning Ordinance's Chapter 12 definitions section defines 'Invasive Plant' as a species 'intentionally or accidentally introduced by human activity into a region in which they did not evolve and cause harm to natural resources, economic activity, or humans,' and it incorporates two reference lists by name: species shown on the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Virginia Invasive Plant Species List, and species shown on the USDA's official source for invasive or noxious plant species.

Because the definition points to those external, periodically updated lists rather than naming species in the ordinance itself, the prohibited-species roster can change without a Zoning Ordinance text amendment. A), confirming the County treats invasive removal as an encouraged, by-right activity rather than something requiring a permit. The prohibition applies to landscape plans reviewed for development in unincorporated Loudoun County; it does not govern private yards outside the site-plan process or land inside the incorporated towns.